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offices have sought an additional Tk 512 crore for organising celebration programmes. Of them, the liberation war affairs ministry has sought Tk 217 crore, local government department Tk 82 crore, cultural affairs ministry about Tk 31 crore, and youth and sports ministry around Tk 78 crore.

Speaking to journalists at the Secretariat after the meeting, Cabinet Secretary Anwarul Islam said, “She [prime minister] precisely asked all the ministries and divisions to declare a notable programme as the Mujib Borsho celebration programme.”

For example, the cabinet secretary said as part of celebrating the event, the Finance Division has planned to provide pensions to six lakh pensioners who would receive pensions sitting at their homes.

“If there is any exception, the issue of an additional budget can be considered. Otherwise, no need to think about big-budget programmes,” he said quoting the premier as saying.

Anwarul also said necessary infrastructure, including stages for celebration programmes, would be built by the Public Works Department.

Asked whether the PM gave the directives in response to additional demands from the ministries, he said, “Many ministries might have thought that new programmes should be taken up. The new directives came for that reason.”

Earlier, the government in the national budget for 2019-20 fiscal year had allocated Tk 100 crore for celebrating “Mujib Borsho”.

Besides, the Cabinet Division was granted an additional Tk 50 crore for the same purpose, said finance ministry sources.

Following the additional demand of Tk 512 crore, the government formed a committee, led by the cabinet secretary, to assess the demands. The authorities asked the Finance Division not to release any fund without any vetting by the Cabinet Division.

A Cabinet Division official said the government would allocate a small amount against the additional demands.